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WASHINGTON, April 14 (AFP) - A dozen journalists, including seven Americans, have requested evacuation as fighting intensified in Rwanda, the State Department reported Thursday.
State Department spokesman Michael McCurry said Belgian troops from the UN mission in Rwanda have made three attempts to evacuate the journalists. Reporters refused evacuation Wednesday.
Troops from the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) reportedly continue to close in on government forces in Kilgali, the capital, showering the airport with mortar fire.
McCurry said the US was deeply concerned over the escalating violence and called on both sides to agree to a ceasefire.
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